Food sans Frontières

31.3.17: Spring is in the Air

 It was such a lovely day to go out and about in Figueres with friends. The sun burned off the early morning cloud, the sky was blue, flowers were out and the shops were full of clothes in pastel shades. Such a relief after all the blacks and greys of winter. Here's a photo of Yasmin and Nicole S looking as happy as I was feeling.
The simple pleasure of shopping and a good lunch with friends. What's not to like? However, don't know why we ended up in the "Café de Paris" on the ramblas for lunch as though the food is ok and very reasonably priced, it's nothing special. Still, we made the most of it and enjoyed sitting out.
Luckily, the menu wasn't too copious as I was invited to Jacques along with other neighbours for dinner with his son Pierre and girlfriend, Agnès. A good time was had by all needless to say. What did we eat? Mexican, of course; Jacques' speciality of pork cooked with chocolate. This recipe uses pulled pork; Jacques leaves his in cubes and he cheats by using a commercially produced mole paste. If you use real chocolate, it must be dark not sweet. Anyway, it never fails to please! Bon appétit!   
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/164608/pulled-pork-with-mexican-almond-mole-sauce
Weather:
20°, sunny and warm

30.3.17: Friends with Food, Bandits with Blunderbuses

Language exchange; how quickly this fun activity (not) comes around! Still, afterwards, Nicole S and I were invited to Yasmin's for lunch and it was warm enough to sit out to take our tea and dessert. Must invite her back but how can my efforts compare with Persian cuisine?
Then there was a carnival debriefing and a conference about the "Trabucayres", early 19th century bandits who used "trabucs", a musket/blunderbuss cross to rob and kill back and forth across the border. http://anglophone-direct.com/the-trabucayres/
Weather:
22°, sun, wind